As is known, climbing shoes normally consist of a leather shoe-upper which is substantially sock-shaped so as to embrace and completely cover the foot, sole of the foot included; a usually slightly spoon-shaped, semi-rigid midsole made of plastic material and which is fixed by gluing directly onto the bottom part of the shoe-upper at the tarsal-phalangeal region of the sole of the foot; of a flexible sole made of vulcanized-rubber and which is fixed by gluing onto the bottom part of the shoe-upper, over the midsole, to cover the sole of the foot; and of a series of tensioning strips made of highly-elastic rubber and which are fixed by gluing onto the shoe-upper and join/connect to the vulcanized-rubber sole so as to embrace and tighten the foot to the limit of physical pain, while however giving the shoe an increased capacity to contain the foot so as to unload the weight stress onto the toe of the foot in complete safety.
More in detail, most climbing shoes are normally provided with a front tensioning strip, traditionally called “toe-band”, which is substantially U-shaped so as to cover the toe of the shoe-upper in the area surrounding the tarsal-phalangeal region of the sole of the foot, while extending/prolonging also partly on the bottom part of the shoe-upper, between the vulcanized-rubber sole and the midsole; and with a rear tensioning strip, traditionally called “side-band”, which is substantially U-shaped so as to cover the shoe-upper in the area immediately over the heel of the foot (i.e. at the area of the foot where the Achilles tendon attaches to the calcaneum), and then to extend along the two lateral sides of the shoe-upper, up to reach and join the two ends of the front tensioning strip, so as to form a sort of annular-shaped elastic tie which embraces and compresses the foot with containing effect, while bending downwards the toe of the foot.
The vulcanized-rubber sole is therefore located on the bottom part of the shoe-upper so as to partly overlap the front tensioning strip and is directly glued to the front tensioning strip so as to form a kind of containing cap, which is elastically connected to the heel of the foot through the rear tensioning strip and is structured so as to compress and bend downwards the toes of the foot.
Although operating excellently, the above-described climbing shoes have highlighted a limited adaptability level to the morphology of the foot of the user, thus in some manner reducing the capacity of the climber to perceive, through the toes of the foot, the quality and conformation of the resting point.